For Perry, being governor has perks

Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s humble origins and down home straight talk are central to his political identity, but for years Perry has enjoyed lavish perks and travel — mostly funded by a group of deep-pocketed supporters — that are allowed under his state’s lax ethics and campaign rules.

Some of the same Texas donors who have funded Perry’s political rise also have footed the bills for Perry and his family to jet around the world, stay in luxury hotels and resorts, vacation in tony Colorado ski towns, attend all manner of sporting events and concerts, and to maintain, entertain — and even pay the cable bill — at the 4,600-square-foot mansion with a heated pool that taxpayers are renting for him at a cost of about $8,500 a month.

Story Continued Below

And that’s to say nothing of the wide range of sometimes-expensive gifts Perry has accepted over the years, including 22 pairs of cowboy boots, Stetson hats, belt buckles, cuff links and at least nine hunting trips.

Perry’s enjoyment of gifts and luxury travel led the Houston Chronicle to declare in a 2009 headline that he’s “a long way from the cotton farm.”

“He came from a family without means, and coming from a family without means, I think the perks of office can be more important to you, as opposed to if you grew up with means and are more accustomed to it,” said Gary Polland, a Republican lawyer and consultant who worked with Perry during Polland’s three terms as chairman of Republican Party in Harris County.

Craig McDonald, director of the liberal watchdog group Texans for Public Justice, is less charitable.

“He’s enhanced his lifestyle by taking advantage of a wealthy class that supports him and his campaigns and wants to lavish him with favors,” said McDonald. “Even though he may not have their money, he has favors that he can give them, including policy, legislation, appointments, state grants and tax subsidies.”

Perry, who has held elected office since 1985, earns a state salary of $150,000 a year and lives in a five-bedroom, seven-bath mansion in West Austin that the state has rented for him since 2007, when he moved out of the governor’s mansion, so it could undergo repairs.

It’s since been damaged by arson, extending the Perry’s stay at the rental, which has been enhanced by a fund including both state and campaign cash, which — according to documents obtained by the Texans for Public Justice and The Associated Press — was used for everything from $1,000 window coverings from Neiman Marcus to a $70 subscription to Food & Wine Magazine to cable bills that included hundreds of dollars in charges for “ movies and events.”

Watchdog groups and political opponents have argued Perry’s acceptance of such perks feeds a corrupt pay-to-play political culture in Texas, and they have filed complaints alleging ethics and campaign finance violations. But Perry appears to have been found in violation only once – for a relatively minor disclosure violation, though his campaign also paid $426,000 last year to settle an opponent’s lawsuit alleging it accepted illegal contributions from a top donor.